Deals
Rival Drilling Tycoons Place Bets on Offshore-Rig Recovery
- Troim’s Borr buys Transocean’s jack-up fleet for $1.35 billion
- Fredriksen acquires semi-submersible oil rig for $365 million
The Troll A natural gas platform, operated by Statoil ASA, in the North Sea, Norway, on Oct. 21, 2015.
Photographer: Krister Soerboe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Billionaire John Fredriksen and his former top adviser Tor Olav Troim may not see eye to eye anymore, but they agree on this: it’s time to buy offshore rigs again.
Foreseeing a boom in oil drilling a decade ago, the shipping tycoon and his right-hand man built one of the biggest offshore-rig companies before they fell out in 2014. With the industry now in the doldrums and assets at bargain prices, the two are at it again, this time as competitors.